Stefan Salvatore (novel)
Stefan Salvatore (Full Name: Stefano Alessandro Salvatore) is the hero, the male protagonist (opposite of Elena, the female protagonist), the deuteragonist, and a main character of The Vampire Diaries novel series. He is a 500 plus year old vampire born during the time of The Renaissance, who was one of the Salvatore brothers that fell in love with Katherine von Swartzschild during his human life (which was the time of the Italian Renaissance) and before he was transformed into a vampire. Stefan is the son of (Conti Di) Giuseppe Salvatore and his un-named mother (who died a few years after he was born), the younger brother of Damon Salvatore, the past love and object of obsession of Katherine von Swartzschild, the one true beloved, ultimate soulmate, and love interest of Elena Gilbert, close friend with Bonnie McCullough and Meredith Sulez, best friends with Matt Honeycutt, ally of Zander, former fling of Caroline Forbes, a rival of Tyler Smallwood and enemies with Misao, Shinichi, and Klaus. Katherine was Stefan's, as well as his brother Damon's creator. Katherine was the one who transformed both of the Salvatore brothers into vampires. After Katherine's "fake death", the heartbreak he endured after thinking he lost her and the continuous tumultuous relationship in which he had shared with his elder brother, Damon, Stefan makes an attempt to run far away and start a new life somewhere else, away from his dark and haunting past. Stefan runs away and attempts to start a new life on his own in a town called Fells Church, a town located in the American state of Virginia (it is later said that a powerful force of some sorts drew Stefan to Fells Church, although he couldn't understand why he was drawn to the town in the first place). Stefan arrives in Fells Church and enrolls as a high school student at Robert E. Lee High School in order to blend in like a regular 17-year-old human teenager (even though Stefan is really 500+ years old). It is there, where Stefan fatefully and inevitably meets Elena Gilbert. He is intensely, immediately and indescribably drawn to her. Stefan is immediately able to "sense" Elena's mind and presence out of everyone else's minds within the entire school and he notices that her mind is significantly different then everyone else's, although, Stefan cannot understand why is able to feel this way towards Elena, who happens to be a complete and total stranger to him. Stefan was able to sense Elena's mind long before he met her in person and he sensed her presence immediately after arriving in Fells Church. He easily recognized it once he came to school that it was the presence of Elena. Elena bears a very strong physical resemblance to his old and first love, Katherine, and because of this, he repeatedly tries to avoid her at all costs during the beginning of the series, feeling that her uncanny resemblance to Katherine brings up painful, sorrowful memories of his dark, mysterious past. Stefan fell deeply and strongly in love with Elena at first sight but later on, Stefan eventually lets his walls crumble even more and falls in even deeper and passionate love with Elena. However, despite the fact that Stefan falls for Elena and Elena reciprocates his love, his elder and malevolent brother Damon follows him to Fells Church in order to make his life chaos and repeatedly makes attempts to try to steal Elena away from him out of revenge against him. Throughout the course of the series, Stefan has been strewn out of Fells Church, mostly out of his control, causing him and Elena to repeatedly become separated from each other. Because of this, it has caused Stefan to leave Elena's well-being and life in the hands of his impulsive, amoral and dangerous older brother, Damon Salvatore. Physical Appearance "From where she stood, Elena could see he had a lean, flat muscled body. Faded jeans he probably had to peel off at night, tight T-shirt, a leather jacket of unusual cut. His hair was wavy―and dark..." ''(pg. 16, The Awakening). ''"The dark, curly hair framed features so fine that they might have been taken from an old Roman coin or medallion. High cheekbones, classical straight nose...and a mouth to keep you awake at night, Elena thought. The upper lip was beautifully sculpted, a little sensitive, a whole lot sensual." (pg. 19, The Awakening) "But there was that mouth. That sculpted mouth that made her weak with something entirely different than nervousness. And that night dark hair—her fingers itched to weave themselves into its softness. That lithe, flat-muscled body, those long legs...and that voice." ''(pg. 48, The Awakening) ''"Even through numbness, Elena felt a quick thrill of fear. She looked at him, a strangely elegant figure, among the tombstones, his face pale in the moonlight. He had never looked so....beautiful to her before, but that beauty was almost alien. Not just foreign, but inhuman, because no human could project that aura of power, or of distance." ''(pg. 112, The Awakening) ''“Her (Bonnie) gaze jerked up, off her own feet, to take in fashionably ratty deck shoes, some foreign kind. Above that were jeans, body hugging, old enough to look soft over hard muscles. Narrow hips. Nice chest. Face to drive a sculptor crazy: sensuous mouth, high cheekbones. Dark sunglasses. Slightly tousled black hair...” ''(Dark Reunion) Described as the ultimate looker with the features of a God, Stefan has the perfect pale complexion of a vampire, and will eternally look seventeen in terms of physical appearance despite being over 500 years old (since he was turned into a vampire at that age). There is a notable resemblance between him and his older brother, Damon, which both Elena and Bonnie had noticed. The difference between the two brothers would be while Damon's handsomeness is blatantly sensual and seductive, Stefan's charm has a touch of boyish innocence and purity. Stefan is not extremely tall, like Tyler Smallwood or Matt Honeycutt, but he is not short either: he is described as being of average height, about five-foot-ten. In fact, he is taller than Damon. He has thick, silky-soft, curly dark hair, and perfectly-set eyes a shade of green that is often compared to many things: oak tree leaves on a summer day, holly green leaves, malachite, and emeralds. His facial features are described as so fine that they seem to have been sculpted: high cheekbones, a straight classical nose, and sensual lips. His physique is said to be lithe, lean, and flat-muscled, with broad shoulders and long legs. Stefan has the classic romance novel look; dreamy and mystical in appearance and he has a strong, compelling aura. However, when Elena describes him as hauntingly beautiful, she is often referring to Stefan as a whole, including his personality. Stefan tends to wear expensive clothing, usually dark or black in color. Part of this is because he was once a member of the Italian nobility and his tutor had taught him to dress as befitted as his position. However, most of the time, he's been spotted on several occasions wearing T-shirts (mostly form-fitting or of a snug fit) and jeans (most of the time, faded), and he shows an odd penchant for wearing sweaters. Stefan's trademark is wearing black leather jackets of unusual cuts. Stefan wears a large, silver ring with a small, round lapis lazuli stone on the index finger of his right hand as a talisman to protect himself against the sunlight. Stefan also wore a chain (a silver chain) around his neck, which bared Katherine's gold lapis lazuli ring, which he had obtained after Katherine's "suicide". Stefan gave the same ring to Elena later on, as an engagement ring when he proposed to her. Elena also used this exact same ring as a talisman to protect herself from the sunlight when she was transformed into a vampire. Elena frequently makes remarks about Stefan's voice and how it sounded like a familiar musical chord for her. She has described his voice as strangely compelling, magnetic and chilling. Personality Etymology Name *Stefan is a masculine first name of Greek origin ' Στεφανος] (Stephanos)'' meaning "crown", "garland", or invested with a "crown of martyrdom". *Salvatore means "Saviour" in Italian. His last name suits and fits Stefan's role in the series, considering that Stefan is the hero and the one who is always the savior making sacrifices, especially for those he loves. Religion During his human life, Stefan was a practicing Roman Catholic. Catholicism is a broad term for the body of the Catholic Church, its theologies and doctrines, its liturgical, ethical, spiritual, and behavioral characteristics, as well as a religious people as a whole. For many the term usually refers to Christians and churches, western and eastern, in full communion with the Holy See, known alternatively as the Catholic Church or as the Roman Catholic Church. However, many others use the term to refer to other churches with historical continuity from the first millennium. Powers and Abilities The supernatural forces that sustain vampires also gift then with many superhuman and supernatural powers. Their physical features such as; strength, speed and agility are all heightened and grow stronger with age and blood consumption. *'Shapeshifting''' - Stefan's unique ability is shapeshifting into any animal. Throughout the series, Stefan has shifted into three animals, Hawk, Falcon and Eagle. Limitations and Threats The most powerful limitation to a vampire is that of sunlight or intense heat. This is a well-accepted limitation of all vampires. However LJ Smith added her own mix on sunlight by giving her vampires a way of living in light - she introduced the idea of a talisman to allow vampires to be in sunlight without being harmed. The use of lapis lazuli allowed Katherine, Stefan, Elena and Damon this luxury. Even with the talisman sunlight still weakens The Vampire Diaries vampires, which is why Katherine and Damon influence the weather in order to prevent their powers from being diminished. Another limitation is running water, another common myth which states that evil cannot cross. During VD3 Katherine explains that to allow her to move around she used the tunnels so she went under running water rather than across it. Despite Elena and Stefan doubting Damon throughout the series, Damon could drive over the river with the rest of the group meaning that either he was not as powerful or evil as Katherine for running water to be one of his limitations. It is assumed that staking the vampire through the heart is a way of killing The Vampire Diaries vampires. By this, it means that LJS has ignored some of the more usual limitations on vampires (see below). But when Stefan is captured by the fathers of Fell's Church they attempt to stake him, however this is not elaborated on whether this is an effective means of killing a vampire. One of the most common woods used for stakes (particularly in Europe) was Ash. Ash was favored by vampire hunters in Northern Europe, particularly in Russia and the Baltic. According to the Roman writer Piny the Elder, all things evil feared ashwood. This wood is what Stefan and Damon used against Klaus during VD4 although it was not as effective. The name of the wood is derived from the Norse asha which is apparently what the tree of life, Yggdrasil was made from. Vampires must be invited into a dwelling - which is defined as any place a human would sleep or eat (so it can be a caravan or houseboat). Most myths explain that vampires are prevented from entering a place where humans 'live', since they are not considered 'human'. This was an interesting point to remember, since Damon was never invited into Vicki's house, which prevented him from offering any help to Vicki Bennett against Klaus. Weaknesses Stefan has the following weaknesses as a vampire and all of these weaknesses affect all vampires like Stefan: * Invitations: 'The Struggle, P.344. (Elena) said, "Do you think someone invited him in?" "Obviously, since he was in." "Then it's true about--people like you. You have to be invited in. But Damon got into the gym without an invitation." "That's because the gym isn't a dwelling place for the living. That's the one criterion. It doesn't matter if it's a house or a tent or an apartment above a store. If living humans eat and sleep there, we need to be invited inside."It doesn't have to be a verbal invitation, so long as the intent is there. Elena nodded to Stefan when he first drove her home, and that was enough. The human doesn't have to actually live there to invite a vampire in. (The Awakening & The Struggle) P.176. Elena inadvertently invites Damon into Bonnie's house. P.310. Stefan: "And make sure no one invites a stranger into your house... Make sure of it." P.330. Random students are inviting other people into the Ramsey house where Alaric is staying. P.335. Damon has managed to easily get himself invited in to Alaric's place. P.424. Damon manages to get himself invited into Elena's house by Robert, who technically lives in Herron. P.435. There seems to be a physical barrier made of thin air at a threshold that prevents vampires getting past it. (The Fury & Dark Reunion) P.173. Elena experiences an invisible barrier that feels like a soft wall of thickened air blocking her way. * '''Running Water: '''The Awakening, P.61. The force in the graveyard is unable to follow the girls once they've crossed the bridge over Drowning Creek.The Struggle, P.345. Stefan: "Running water can be a barrier in itself. For some of us, it's almost impossible to cross." The Fury, P.227. Katherine gets around this limitation by creating a tunnel ''under Drowning Creek in order to get around. * '''Sunlight: '''Vampires can go out in sunlight if they wear Lapis Lazuli. The sun does, however, tire them out. P.215 'The Awakening'. Stefan: "Without such a talisman, we die in sunlight as if in a fire." P.217 In regards to Stefan's new ring: "You do not need it yet to face the sun," she said softly, smiling. "But very soon you will." - it seems that the change is gradual enough that the newly changed/changing aren't hurt by the sun. P.231, The Fury - Katherine burns in a matter of seconds, bursting into flames and blackening before turning to Ash. Stefan later states that this is a sign of her age. The old ones burn, and the young ones just die. Stefan's own arms are red from a second of exposure. * '''Wood: '''While White Ash wood seems to be specifically poisonous to Klaus, any kind of wood is poisonous to Stefan and likely Damon. Neither Stefan or Damon have problems with handling wood; Stefan snaps a log in half in the Awakening, Damon rips up trees, and Stefan handles the White Ash wood tree used to make the spear with no ill effects. From this we conclude that wood is poisonous to them if it hits the blood stream - staking is certainly effective (and technically fatal for Stefan in Dark Reunion), and Damon finds the wooden bullets loaded in Alaric's gun in The Fury to be very distasteful. * '''Vervain: '''P.346. Vervain. Protects against bewitchment and can keep the mind clear when Powers are being used against the holder. * '''Myth Weaknesses: '''P.346. Garlic. P.346. Crosses. Though belief can strengthen a person's will to resist. P.346. Silver bullets. Those are for werewolves. They don't like silver in any form. P.348. No reflections. Stefan reveals he has a reflection in the rear-view mirror of the car. Throws into question why there's no mirror in his bathroom. I still think that's Mrs. Flowers' idea of a joke. * '''Ways Of Killing Vampires: P.347 Sunlight, wooden stake, beheading, burning, driving nails through the temples. Destroying Vampires Common Methods #'Staking:' Most commonly used method #'Beheading:' Care to avoid spilling blood #'Sunlight:' Some aged and powerful vampires are immune #'Cremation:' Found over the world, scatter the ashes #'Piercing with a sword:' Blessed sword should be used #'Immersing in water:' Bathtub can be used, disposal of body can be problematic #'Drenching in garlic and holy water:' Oil, wine or vinegar can also be used #'Touching with crucifix:' Young vampire, yes. Usually a repellent #'Trapping the grave:' Iron bits, red peas, rice (Chinese) roses, garlic, stones and holy water #'Extracting the heart' Less Common Methods #'Stealing the left sock:' Only a few species #'Injecting with holy water:' Troubles of getting close enough without danger to self #'Magic:' For the trained #'Bottling:' Malyasia and Bulgaria #'Breaking of spine:' Then beheading #'Using a dhampir:' a half-vampire, usually was difficult to convince #'Using animals:' Cocks, dogs and white wolves #'Boiling of the heart:' Trouble of getting close enough Biography Early History Stefan was a seventeen year old human boy who was born during the 1400's. Stefan was born in Florence, Italy to Conti Di Giuseppe Salvatore and his un-named mother during the Renaissance period along with his older brother, Damon. Damon never liked Stefan since childhood, who suspected it was because of his birth that had weakened their mother and she died a few years afterwards. During the summer, Baron von Swartzschild, a German nobleman and a friend of Giuseppe, came to Italy from Germany with his young, beautiful daughter Katherine and stayed with the Salvatores to help Katherine with her recovery from a dreadful illness, which had severely weakened he already fragile state. Over time, Stefan fell madly in love with Katherine, who later revealed to him that she was a vampire. Over the months, Stefan and Katherine spent a lot of time together and their father's had began discussing the prospects of possible marriage between the two. However, Stefan's brother, Damon returned from the unnamed university he was attending, and he caught Katherine's eye in attempts to gain revenge against Stefan by making it a competition for Damon due to his vanity, pride and ego. Stefan became jealous and unhappy by Damon's attempts of turning Katherine into a competition and he and Damon finally told her to choose between the two of them for whom she wanted to be her husband. Both of the brothers gave her time to decide, and the night before she announced her decision, Katherine had went to Stefan's chambers and exchanged blood with him, because she had chosen him, much to Stefan's great delight. But when Katherine announced her decision, Stefan and Damon were both shocked that she had chosen both of them, when she gave them both Lapis Lazuli silver rings, rings which would help to protect them from the sunlight after they complete their transitions into vampires. Neither Stefan nor Damon could accept this, arguing that she must choose between the two of them and that they would never be fine with sharing her, much to Katherine's dismay. Because of the blood exchange which has taken place between him and Katherine, Stefan started to feel changes and alterations occurring within his body and realized that he longed more for blood than for ordinary human food. Finally, he went to Katherine's chambers with Damon and her maid, Gudren, who had told them that Katherine was alone in the garden. The Salvatore brothers searched for Katherine in the garden but couldn't find her there. Stefan then remembered that her favorite place to hang out was under the lemon tree. Stefan and Damon went over to the lemon tree where they thought Katherine was, until Stefan stumbled across Katherine's dress covered in smelly ash, with her 'daylight ring' on a rock with a note, saying she had committed suicide in the hopes that the brothers would end their rivalry, reconcile and love each other again. Unfortunately, this infuriated both the brothers even more and they fought over Katherine's protective ring. They fought with their swords, aiming to kill each other. Damon got under Stefan's guard and stabbed him right through the heart, killing him almost instantly. With every bit of Stefan's strength left, he used his sword and stabbed Damon in the heart too, killing him. With Katherine's blood flowing within their bloodstreams, they both transformed into immortals. Stefan kept Katherine's small lapis lazuli ring with him for many, many centuries later as a memory of his life with her and his love for her. During the beginning of his vampire life, Stefan chose to feed on the blood of animals, refusing to take innocent human life, while Damon chose to live a completely separate kind of lifestyle and take innocent human life, feeding on the blood of humans. When they came across each other at one point in time, Damon emotionally blackmailed and tortured Stefan and threatened to kill him if he didn't leave home, and Stefan, believing that his very own brother would indeed kill him, left his home of Florence for good. Stefan leaves Florence to get away from his dangerous brother and all that has happened in his dark, painful past. He chooses to start a new life for himself in a small, random American town of Fells Church, Virginia. Stefan is completely unsure of why he chose such a small and random town, but Stefan doesn't know that destiny and fate and completely new changes for him awaits... Relationships The Awakening Centuries after he and his brother, Damon, were turned into vampires, Stefan Salvatore tries to escape his dark and painful past by relocating to a small town in Virginia, Fells Church. There was no reasoning behind why Stefan chose Fells Church, only that he felt he was drawn there by an unknown force. On the first day of school at Robert E. Lee High School, Stefan fed on a rabbit before school. Although, it was enough to sustain him, it did not give him the power he needed. Upon, entering Robert E. Lee High, Stefan catches attention of all the girls in the vicinity, including Elena Gilbert (novel), Meredith Sulez, Caroline Forbes (novel) and Bonnie McCullough. Elena and Caroline are intensely, strongly and passionately attracted to Stefan upon first glance, and Elena makes a promise to herself that he will be hers. Stefan has to compel the school secretary to approve his position as a student at Robert E. Lee High School, as there is something wrong with his application. The Struggle Bonnie tuned into Stefan's thoughts to get a clue of his location, but the suspicions of where he could be was incorrect. With the help of Matt though, Bonnie, Elena and Meredith found Stefan in a well on the Old Francher's farm. Stefan was shockingly weak and was taken to the boarding house. Matt insisted that they get Stefan to a doctor, but Elena couldn't agree because of what Stefan was and had Bonnie get her sister Mary who was a nurse. The Fury In the Fury, Stefan convinced Matt to let Elena drink his blood, in order to complete the transition into a vampire. At first Elena tried to kill Stefan, thinking that she loved Damon and not him. After she read her diary, she hated what she had done to Stefan. At the end Elena killed herself as she pushed Katherine into the sunlight, saving Stefan and Damon from being killed. Dark Reunion Stefan was in Italy with Damon, scolding him for not taking proper care of his secret as a vampire. Bonnie tried a summoning spell to call for his help and succeeded. Unfortunately, Damon returned to Fell's Church with Stefan. Bonnie, Meredith and Matt told Stefan of Sue Carson's death, and that there was another powerful force in town. The Return: Nightfall After Elena comes back as a spirit child, Stefan takes it upon himself to look after her. He does so until Elena goes back to her normal human self. After him and Elena go out into the wood kissing and exchanging blood Damon sees everything and storms off and makes a deal with Shinichi. The deal was to lure Stefan out of Fell's church without killing him. The lure was a website which said it would be able to turn him human again, of course it ended up being a lie and Stefan was trapped in some magical underworld. Elena was able to contact Stefan later on in the book and it was there she found him starved and ill-looking. At first he didn't believe it was Elena as his captors had appeared as Elena taunting him. She convinced him it was her and managed to give Stefan some blood, she wanted to stay longer but Stefan made her go after it was alerted someone was by his cell. At the end of the book Damon, Elena and Matt set out to rescue Stefan. The Return: Shadow Souls Elena had an out of body experience and willed herself to go to Stefan who was locked up in a cell. He was thin and weak. Whoever held him there tortured him with Elena's image, causing Stefan to be rude to Elena at the sight of her. However, when he realized it really was Elena, he tried to comfort her because his rudeness had hurt her. Elena tears restored some color in Stefan's pale visage, healing him from some of his weakness. When Matt woke Elena up, her spirit was taken away from Stefan. The Return: Midnight The Hunters: Phantom The Hunters: Moonsong The Hunters: Destiny Rising The Salvation: Unseen In the television series, Stefan is portrayed by Paul Wesley. is quite different from his novel counterpart in terms of family background and history, but they are quite similar in terms of personality, although with some character differences. Stefan Salvatore is the male lead, the hero, the male protagonist and the main love interest of the heroine and protagonist Elena Gilbert. Stefan is also seen as the narrator of the story. He is known as the moral, good vampire brother, who is compassionate, empathetic, kind-hearted and more affectionate. He is one of the three main characters of the series and is the deuteragonist of the series (Elena is the protagonist and Damon is the tritagonist) His malevolent elder brother, Damon Salvatore, who is also a vampire (and the complete opposite of Stefan in terms of temperament and personality), hates him, as he has promised him an eternal lifetime of misery. His former flame, Katherine Pierce is back in the town of Mystic Falls and is supposedly after Stefan's love again. However, despite Katherine's feelings for Stefan and her love for him, Stefan is repulsed by her and wants nothing to do with her whatsoever. Stefan is an 164 year old vampire of Italian-American descent, who was born November 5, 1847 (poss. 1846?) in the town of Mystic Falls, Virginia to Giuseppe Salvatore and his unnamed mother (who died when Stefan was 10). He is the youngest son of Giuseppe and the younger brother of Damon Salvatore. During his human life, Stefan was described as responsible, intelligent, ambitious, dutiful, athletic, noble, polite and respectful. Stefan liked sports and especially took pleasure in football, polo, and horseback riding. Stefan also loved literature, reading, poetry and writing in his journals. Before Stefan was turned into a vampire, Stefan was an aspiring doctor. Stefan was also his father Giuseppe's favourite son and he had a close relationship with him, the complete opposite of Damon, who shared a tension-filled relationship with Giuseppe. In terms of romance, women and the opposite sex, Stefan was popular, admired and well-liked with women. Stefan was seen to be respectful, courteous, chivalrous, romantic and polite. This was especially noticeable with Katherine. Stefan developed strong feelings for Katherine Pierce, but so does his brother Damon. The two eventually start to compete with each other for Katherine's affections. Although it was shown that Katherine displayed interest in both of the Salvatore brothers, it was evident that the younger Salvatore was the one she truly loved. When Stefan was just seventeen years of age, he died from a gunshot wound to the chest (which was fired by his own father, Giuseppe when Stefan tried to help Damon save Katherine from being put in the tomb and eventually being burned in the church). Stefan was compelled by Katherine to drink her blood against his will and because of this, Stefan died with 's blood within his system after he was shot, hence triggering his transformation into a vampire. Physically, Stefan is tall and lean with an a slim, athletic, muscular build and physique. He is very handsome, attractive and good looking with short, cropped dark brown hair and he has expressive, intense but subtle green eyes. Stefan's expression appears quite serious, brooding and often sad especially in the beginning (mostly due to his guilt-ridden and dark, mysterious past), although he has a very engaging, warm and charming smile. He has a tattoo of a rose which is located on his upper right shoulder. The significance of Stefan's tattoo has not been explained and it is not clear or confirmed when Stefan got the tattoo. Stefan appears to be quite sombre at first and a little distant towards most people, though generally polite, even-tempered and well-mannered. Personality wise, Stefan is described to be kind, compassionate, gentle, caring, selfless, heroic, noble and brave. He appears to be shy, a loner, passive, cynical, pessimistic, and incredibly brooding, the complete and total opposite of Elena, who is outgoing, popular, sociable, active, optimistic and cheerful. Stefan is in control of his emotions most of the time and he generally possesses a calm and quiet nature, however, his brother, Damon, is able to stir him into rage and anger him quite easily. Elena seems to be able to evoke a more passionate, fiery side to him and because of her, he seems to take on a more active role. Around his friends (such as Lexi and Caroline for example), Stefan is relaxed, down to earth and possesses a sense of fun, charm and a wicked sense of humor. Stefan has also displayed these same traits of a fun, playful and adventurous personality with Elena. After he is tortured by the tomb vampires in the episode Let The Right One In, he is rapidly weakened and Elena feeds him her blood but it brings out the predator, the beast and the monstrous side of him, which he hasn't revealed in over a century. Damon and Elena try to work together to help him get back on his regular animal blood diet and it eventually works, with Stefan fully recovering and returning to his normal and healthy self. In The Return, he still shows that he is a caring, empathetic, compassionate and understanding individual, but Stefan seems to have toughened up and he displays a significantly tougher side when he confronts John Gilbert, when he is in the hospital recovering from his injuries, after threatening Stefan that he wants to kill him by driving a stake through his heart and calling him a monster and insulting his daughter Elena's relationship with Stefan. Stefan displays his tougher and darker side when he threatens him to leave Mystic Falls for good and to never come back because Elena doesn't want him in town. Stefan continues to display his compassionate and helpful side when Caroline was turned into a vampire. Caroline, at first, had many struggles and issues with controlling her emotions and her bloodlust, which is a common thing with newborn vampires. When Caroline's emotions and urges become overpowering and she kills a young man named Carter at the carnival in Brave New World, Stefan comforts her, tries to assure her that he will help her through the rough times, says he'll help her adjust to her new lifestyle, which is a lifestyle of living on animal blood. In Bad Moon Rising, Stefan displays his thoughtful, helpful nature and Stefan takes Caroline into the forest to go hunting for forest animals together after Stefan gets Bonnie to enchant a daylight ring for her in order to protect her from the effects of the sun. In terms of his powers and abilities, since Stefan does not feed regularly on human blood like his older brother Damon, Stefan's powers as a vampire are not as strong as his brothers. Stefan lives off of an animal blood diet, therefore, this weakens his abilities. However, when hyped up on human blood, Stefan becomes extremely powerful and strong, even stronger then Damon. Stefan possesses the standard vampire abilities of immortality (meaning he cannot age or grow old), accelerated healing, fast reflexes, flying or floating, jumping heights or leaping, mind compulsion or influence, sensitive hearing, enhanced senses, superhuman speed, and superhuman strength. Stefan's weaknesses as a vampire include sunlight, invitations, vervain and wood. In order for Stefan to walk around in the sunlight, Stefan wears a Daylight Ring as a talisman against the sunlight, which is a heavy, silver ring with an enchanted Lapis Lazuli stone (enchanted by'' Emily Bennett back in 1864) on the middle finger of his right hand. On Stefan's ring, bears the Salvatore Family Crest with an "S" in the middle of the stone, indicating the first letter of his first name Stefan. His brother, Damon also has a similar ring which bears the stone with a "D", in which he wears on his left hand on his middle finger. Trivia *Stefan was born during the fifteenth century (1474), during the period of the Italian Renaissance. *Stefan was seventeen human years old when he died and was turned into a vampire. *Stefan was a nobleman during his human years. *Stefan was strongly favored over Damon by his father, Giuseppe Salvatore. *Stefan was the brother whom Katherine loved more or best between him and Damon. *Stefan is an excellent cook. *Stefan played the position of wide receiver on his high school football team. *Stefan has forest green eyes. *Stefan has wavy hair. *Stefan loves literature, books, and paintings. *During his human life, Stefan was deeply attached to his family, friends and his duty to Florence. Stefan says that he had studies and ambitions. Damon describes Stefan as "sheltered". *Stefan is well-read and highly cultured. During his human years, he was seen to be highly scholarly and ambitious. *Stefan was a practicing Catholic during his human life. He was strong in his faith due to his Catholic upbringing and he would pray often. *During his human years, Stefan would normally pray whenever he was distressed or upset. *Back in his home of Florence, Stefan's bedroom contained a curtained bed with sheets and pillows. Stefan slept alone. *Stefan did not routinely carry a sword during his human life in Florence. *Before Damon arrived back from university for the summer, Stefan was facing possible arrangements to marry Katherine. *At the beginning of the series, all of the female characters (Elena, Bonnie, Meredith and Caroline) displayed an attraction or a romantic interest in Stefan. * Mrs. Theophilia Flowers whom Stefan lives with at her boarding house, has mentioned that she has a "soft spot" for Stefan. *Stefan is a hopeless romantic. This is noticed by all of the women, including Katherine, Elena, Bonnie, Meredith and Caroline. *Stefan was named after the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen. *Stefan has the ability to read minds at increased speed. *Stefan does not drink human blood under any circumstances. However, Stefan breaks this rule by drinking Elena's blood from time to time as a form of romantic bonding. * If Stefan consumes a substantial amount of human blood, Stefan can shape shift into the form of a falcon and a hawk. *Stefan used to wear a chain with Katherine's Lapis Lazuli gold ring around his neck as a way to keep his memories of her after her death (which turned out to be a faked death). *According to Stefan, Damon has hated him for the longest time since childhood. Stefan believes that his birth might have caused their mother's death, therefore, why and when Damon might have began hating Stefan. *Damon often refers to Stefan as "brother" or "little brother" and rarely if ever refers to Stefan by his first name. *Stefan hates to look bad in appearance. He always likes to be well dressed and impeccable in appearance when he is around others. *Stefan likes expensive clothing, especially black clothing. However, Stefan is mostly seen wearing t-shirts and jeans. *Stefan is a masculine first name of Greek origin. It is a derivative of the name Stephen. It means "crowned" or "garland". *Stefan's last name "Salvatore" means "Saviour" in Italian. *Stefan is athletic and loves engaging in sports. His favourite sport is football. He has also recently learned and grasped the concept of basketball. * Stefan loves playing the game of pool. He is known to be exceptionally good at it over years of practice. * Stefan's nicknames include the following: **'Masked Man' (used and coined by Meredith Sulez) **'Masked Stranger' **"Darling" (a term of endearment that only Elena Gilbert uses for Stefan) **"Gentle Stefan" (used by Elena) **"Darling Stefan" (used by Elena) **"Stefan Darling" (used by Elena only) **''Her Stefan (referenced by Elena) **St. Stefan **Sweet Stefan (used by Katherine von Swartzschild) **Precious Stefan (used by Katherine) **Little Brother (used by Damon Salvatore only) References See also Category:Novel Characters Category:Main Characters Category:Salvatore Family Category:Supernatural Category:Vampires Category:Deceased Category:Help Needed